11/23/07: Akimbo "Navigating the Bronze" Contest!
It's been a long, long, loooong while since we had a contest. Are you guys ready for a new one?

"Dude, I totally navigated the bronze last night!"

What does that sentence mean to you? This elusive phrase has not been explicitly defined by Akimbo, the band who created this mysterious album title. Many theories have been informally offered, none to our satisfaction. However, we want to make "Navigating the Bronze" as ubiquitous as "Ghostriding the Whip" or "Oh no you dih-ent!" in the youth lexicon.

We leave it up to you, the creative AT fan, to fill in semiotic gap left wide by our well-coiffed Seattle trio. Stretch those vocab muscles and enter to win a signed vinyl copies of said album Navigating the Bronze. We have two LPs, both signed and embellished by all three members of Akimbo.

Rules:

1. Define the phrase "Navigating the Bronze"
2. Use it in a sentence that reflects this meaning
3. Send your entry by DECEMBER 17, 2007 with your contact information (name, email, mailing address) to:

4. Akimbo will judge the entries. Two winners will receive signed Navigating the Bronze LPs, and we will publish the winners and honorable mentions on the Alternative Tentacles site.

Rest assured, we won't use the e-mail/postal address provided other than to notify winners and mail them their prizes.

11/22/07: Mailorder closed until Monday 11/26
We're closed until Monday November 26th because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Some orders will be mailed tomorrow (Friday November 22nd) but all currently printed orders will be mailed by Monday afternoon.

Some Thanksgiving-related reading for you...From the journal Critique of Anthropology comes this paragraph from Janet Suskind, Rutgers University:"Thanksgiving was 'invented' in its present form at the end of the 19th century. Through the consummation of a sacred meal, a diverse collection of immigrants become the descendants of the Pilgrims. In every household that considers itself Amencan or desires to become American, Thanksgiving brings family members back home, ritually strengthening attenuated ties of kinship and investing the set of meanings incorporated in being an Amencan with the emotional intensity and significance of family. This article traces the develop ment and analyzes the meanings of this ritual and its symbols."

Reactionary right-wing lunatic magazine The Free Republic has a slightly different, pro-free market take in this article, originally printed in 1985.

11/13/07: Plastic People of the Universe in the NY Times

The New York Times published a great article on The Plastic People of the Universe as well as Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'n' Roll, about Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s. Jello has been a fan of the Plastics and in the 1980s, signed Life After Life featuring members of the Plastic People of the Universe to Alternative Tentacles.

You can find a great selection of Plastics releases we carry in our mailorder here. Also check out Life After Life's full length Just Trip (Virus 192).

11/13/07: Public hearing for renaming of Dirk Dirksen Alley
There will be a public hearing at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday, November 15 at 10am regarding the renaming of Rowland Street at 443 Broadway (original location of Mabuhay Gardens) to Dirk Dirksen Alley.

SF City Hall is located at 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, directions and map are here. The hearing will take place in Room 263.

On September 20, Gary King Jr was tasered, then shot in the back by Oakland police officer Patrick Gonzales. Every Thursday (until further notice) between 3-5pm at Frank Ogawa Plaza, there will be weekly gatherings organized by King's family to protest police brutality and to demand justice for Gary King Jr. For more info, please visit SF Bay Area Indy Media website.

10/22/07: R.I.P. Lance Hahn

Lance Hahn of J Church and Cringer passed away yesterday, October 21, due to complications from kidney disease. Before he moved to Austin, TX, Lance was an integral part of the Bay Area punk community. We are very saddened by this news and offer our deepest condolences to Lance's family and friends.

We all know that Zolar X is the Greatest Zolarian Band, but are they the Next Great American Band? Here's what Jello Biafra has to say about that:

Yo! Hey, Everyone.

We're not normally into plugging network TV, especially for a Fox show from the same culture-poisoners as American Idol. But wait--this Friday, October 19 (8pm, 7pm Central), on the premiere of The Next Great American Band, their "weirdest bands ever" section features none other than our own Zolar X!

Tune in! Tell your Friends! Gather a group of people who have no idea what they're about to be subjected to. Like seeing Wesley Willis or GWAR for the first time, half the fun is watching the reactions on other people's faces.

Or you can judge for yourself by checking out Zolar X's latest album of all-new material X Marks the Spot (Virus 379) or their anthology Timeless (Virus 319)...or both!

"Hardcore Punk Legend Mikey Offender Dead At 46
Mikey "Offender" Donaldson passed away in his sleep on September 22 in Barcelona Spain where he had recently relocated from Amsterdam. The cause is unknown at the moment. He was 46. He is survived by his brother Joe Donaldson, sister Marie Donaldson Ward, and sister Sumiko Hakari , all of Killeen, Texas. Mikey was the bass player for Austin, Texas punk band THE OFFENDERS from 1978-86. He also recorded bass tracks on MDC's groundbreaker Millions Of Dead Cops and DRI's Dealing With It. Mikey also performed regularly with MDC in the early 1980s. He moved to San Francisco in 1986 and went on to play and record with Gary Floyd (DICKS) and Lynn Perko (IMPERIAL TEEN) in SISTER DOUBLE HAPPINESS. After leaving the music scene for ten years or so, Mikey returned to Austin and reunited with the original Offenders line-up for a gig at Emos in March 2002. In 2003 MDC recruited Mikey and the original line-up, recorded a new album, and have been touring all over the world ever since. Mikey is universally regarded as one of the most innovative and inimitable masters of the bass guitar. He played his Rickenbacker like it was a out-sized rhythm guitar. Taking cues from Jack Bruce (CREAM) and Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD), Mikey pioneered an agressive speed-picking style and liberal employment of bass chords that few have been able to emulate in the past 20 years. He will be sorely missed, certainly in Austin and his hometown of Killeen, but also across the globe. A memorial celebration in Austin is pending and the date will be announced soon. "

09/27/07: New videos up the wazoo!

Some of our bands are getting on the Web 2.0 bandwagon, gracing us with the miracle of embedded videos.
We're putting two videos below. First is Zolar X
with their song "Oveon Triopp"/"Retro Rockets" from their brand new album
X Marks the Spot (Virus 379). Second is a
video from The Evaporators for a new song called "Gassy Jack"
from their upcoming album on Mint Records titled Gassy Jack and Other Tales. Enjoy!

09/24/07: Buy Local in Berkeley and world-wide!
In the spirit of the expanding "Buy Local" movement, locals can celebrate the new Buy Local Berkeley campaign! Meet and mingle with Berkeley merchants and community partners who support independently and locally-owned businesses- it's all Thursday, September 27 from 4-7 at Jupiter (2181 Shattuck Ave) in downtown Berkeley.

09/11/07: Hybrid car US tax credit ends after September 30!
This is a public service announcement: if you've been thinking about buying a hybrid car, try to make your purchase before the end of September. The federal tax credit for certain models (including the Prius) will expire, and the credit for other models (including Honda hybrids) will be reduced on purchases made after the September 30 cutoff date. More info on hybrid car tax credits in this article on SmartMoney.com.

09/09/07: CounterCorp & Greens tomorrow night!
Two fascinating political/art events tomorrow night, Monday September 10th!7:30-9:30 p.m. San Francisco- CounterCorp will be taking part in an "Urban Cinema Showcase" at the Variety Preview Room, 582 Market Street. CounterCorp will be contributing three short films from the 2006 Anti-Corporate Film Festival -- "Alienation", Children", and "Aqua Who?" -- to a program of shorts from the Next Generation Youth Video Works, the SF Women's Film Festival, and independent imagemakers Bill Basquin, Veronica Majano, Sabrina Alonso, and others. There will be a no-host bar.

7:30-10 p.m. Berkeley- The 1st Green Monday program features former Oakland City Councilmember Wilson Riles on "American Empire, ecological wisdom, and the Green Party." Your Mail Male Jesse Townley will introduce Wilson. All ages with full bar, all at Anna's Jazz Island, sponsored by the Berkeley Green Party.

09/07/07: Chill E.B. talks live about 9/11/01
"Come show your support for the 9/11 victims. Tune in
to Now Live tonight at 9:00PM pacific time. Go to CLUBBIN with Sharla and Luna. Our segment is dedicated in memory to the first responders of the tragedy, as well as the victims and their families. Thanks, and best wishes!Chill E.B."